eCommons@AKU

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi Institute for Educational Development

December 2008

Value of traditional games

Saima Khalid
Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_ied_pdck

Recommended Citation
Khalid, S. (2008, December). Value of traditional games. Nurture, (5), 1921.

D ont stay too long outside and waste your time
playing. Come back home by 6 pm sharp. You
need to finish your home work. You only want
to play all the time. When will you take time out for studies?
There is no need to go outside to play. You can play games
on your computer.
These are common phrases we hear in our surroundings
where physical activity play is usually considered non-
productive for children. Time spent playing is compared
to time spent studying and more often than not, children
are reprimanded for wasting time playing outside. It is
common observation that parents praise studious children
and are ticked off by those indulging in sports and play.
Parents are heard raising such concerns as, Why do kids
always want to play? Do they realize how adversely it
would affect their grades? Owing to little awareness
about the developmental benefits of play, it is often
disregarded by parents and caregivers as aimless leisure.
Research endorses that play is the best form of physical
activity for children and through traditional game playing
children learn about the rules and values of their culture.
Many early childhood practitioners also consider play as
19 Nurture - Pakistans Pioneer Publication on Early Childhood Development
Value of
Traditional
Games
BY SAIMA KHALID
an activity which promotes learning. Yet play is only
considered relevant to some areas of the curriculum and
still has not received a secure place in delivering the
curriculum (Bruce, 2004).
With the gradual increase in awareness about the
importance of play, early childhood practitioners started
considering only those games that are either given in the
reference books and teachers guide for kindergarten
schools. While talking about kinds of play, most literature
depicts childrens play with objects, pretend play and
socio-dramatic play that are mainly focused by Piaget
and Smilansky (Moyles, 2005). These kinds of play caught
the interest of teachers and educators as well since they
carry benefits and functions for learning different skills
in classrooms. Physical activity play was evidently ignored.
Through this article I wish to highlight some of the
common traditional games and their developmental
benefits in the hope that awareness may restore the legacy
of physical games that I grew up playing and enjoying.
Traditional games including Pitto Garam, Aankh Macholi,
Baraf Pani, Oonch Neech, Gilli Danda etc. carry immense
benefits for healthy development of children such as
 Value of Traditional Games

sharpened gross and fine motor skills, improved control

and balance, enhanced hand-eye coordination, increased
spatial awareness, and greater social sk ills.

Let us look at how some of the traditional games are

played and their associated benefits.

Rassa Kashi
To play this game two teams of relatively equal weight
are chosen. A rope is taken and a flag is tied midway along
the length and a line is drawn infront of the team. Both
the teams position at either end and upon signal of a
referee. The teams start pulling the rope in their respective
directions. The objective is to pull the flag over the neutral
line and on the teams own side. Through participating
in this game children learn the importance of team play
as well as enhance their gross motor skills and improve
balance and coordination.

Pitto Garam
This game is played between two teams. Player from one
team uses a ball to hit a pile of stones and the other team
members try and rebuild the pile while team two players
try to tag by hitting the members of the first team with
the ball. The next turn comes if the pile is rebuilt or the
ball hits any of the team one players while rebuilding the
pile. This is a very popular local game. It helps children to
work as a team, support each other and at the same time,
take steps for their defence. While hitting the pile, children
learn better hand and eye coordination, and the process
of rebuilding the pile sharpens fine motor skills,
sequencing and sizing skills.

Baraf Pani
Baraf pani is a variation of the basic game of pakran pakrai
(tag) except that the chaser has to catch everyone in the
game. The game only requires a bunch of friends and an
open space to run. As soon as the chaser touches any
player, he or she becomes baraf (frozen) and cannot move
until unfrozen by the other players who are still untagged.
This game promotes development of childrens gross
motor skills and team play.

Oonch Neech
This game requires a bunch of children who run around
for safe spots while trying to escape being caught by a
chaser. Safe spots include anything that is higher than
the ground level so one can be safe by climbing on top
of stairs, or tree or a bench in the playground. The children
cannot remain standing at one spot for too long. The
game helps children refine their gross motor skills as well
as sharpens decision making and improves spatial sense
i.e. measuring time and distance together.

Gittey
This game is played with small stones that are thrown on
the floor. The player is supposed to pick the stones one

Pakistans Pioneer Publication on Early Childhood Development - Nurture 20

Value of Traditional Games

after the other while throwing one stone or a ball

simultaneously in the air and catching it back. This game
helps in developing excellent hand eye coordination and
fine motor skills.
Traditional games expose children to a number
of invaluable life lessons and they also develop
fond childhood memories that are essential for
healthy and holistic development. Both
individually and collectively, children exhibit

Kho Kho and sharpen cognitive and physical abilities

through play. These include:

Kho Kho is played between two teams each with odd making choices
number of players. Members of the chasing team stand
equidistance in a line with each alternate player facing generating decisions
opposite direction. One player who is the chaser tries to
negotiating
catch the players of the other team. While the dodger
team can pass in between standing players to save them pursuing their own interests
from being tagged, the chaser cannot cut across the line
of standing players and has to run around the entire row. using their own ideas and imaginations
The chaser however can pass off the chasing to another
showing independence in thought and action
member of his team by nudging from behind and taking
that players standing position. The game helps children exhibiting intrinsic motivation and persistence
to work in a team, learn decision making and develop
their gross motor skills. This also helps in language being physically and intellectually active in a
development. sustained way

being confident and prepare for challenges

Langri Pala being creative
This is yet another informal playground game that involves learning to resolve conflicts
one player attempting to tag other players by hopping
on one leg and touching them with his/her hands. The setting their own goals and objectives
game develops physical balance of the children and also
uses gross motor skills of the children. learning new behaviour and practicing and
consolidating established ones
Each of the aforementioned games and many others have acquiring new skills and interest
been locally played in one form or another for decades
in our culture. With regional and generational variations using skills and knowledge already acquired
these games are played without adult supervision and for different purposes
with minimum equipment. The rules and names of these using a range of social and interpersonal skills
games are not written but are agreed upon by the
participants. Unstructured play has a crucial role in understanding rules and struc tures
developing various aspects of children's growth,
behaviour and interpersonal learning, therefore creating new combinations out of experiences
accentuates the need to restore traditional games in problem solving
childrens lives.
acquiring flexibility and empathy towards
others &

developing cooperative skills.

Adapted from Moyles. J. 2005

Sources:
Bruce, T. (2004). Developing Learning in Early Childhood. London: Paul Chapman
Publishing

Maheen, S., Adeeb, S., AmirAli, S., & Mughal, A. (2004). Aao Mil Ker Khailain (Urdu).
Karachi: Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan

Moyles, J. (Ed.). (2005). The Excellence of Play. England: Open University Press.

About the Writer:

Saima Khalid is currently an Instructor at AKU-IED. She has
considerable experience in both academic and programme
administration as well as in conducting Certificate in
Education (Cert Ed) course at AKU-IED.

21 Nurture - Pakistans Pioneer Publication on Early Childhood Development